Ah, this is really turning into the good discussion I hoped it would be!
I like what Danger Dave said, however let me give another example that takes the surprise/sneak attack element out of it. I'm 5'8 and about 180 (short and stocky, but not terribly out of shape). I have some training. I could go around and pick fights with people that are 5'7" and less and who weigh at least thirty pounds less than me and who have no training and (barring some extreme circumstance) I probably would dominate. Would that make me a "great fighter" or even a "good" one? I don't think so. At least, not in my opinion. And that's what I see fighters like Tank Abbot as doing. The proof is (at least in the fights I saw) when they fought someone of equal size or with actual skill they lost.
""Martial artists denial" is when I think that martial artists hate to believe that some skill-less chump could smash their face in."
Hey, believe me, I have no delusions of grandeur. Example: There's another teacher here at the school where I work that is 6'4", and about 250 (you've already heard my dimensions above). He has no formaly trained fighting skill and little (if any) real fight experience. But he lifts and is active athletically (basketball, mostly). I am quite sure that, barring a vicious surprise attack or a really lucky shot, that this guy could kick my but!
"If you're 5'5" and you have zero fighting skills but you beat the crap out of a 6'0" wrestler, you are a good fighter."
Yeah, but that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about guys that have zero fighting skills but are 6'6" and 300 lbs while fighting people my size! See the difference?
Re: The Gracie/Kimo fight. I had a chance to watch it again (since I haven't returned the tape I borrowed
) and I have to say it was an exaggeration to say Kimo gave Gracie a beating. However, I can tell you why I remembered it that way. It is because Kimo gave Gracie a real run for his money. He was able to keep Gracie from grappling him to the ground for some time, and when on the ground he was able to keep gracie from getting the upper hand. The pony tail thing (which I still say was a stupid thing to have) wasn't really much of a factor either. Though Gracie did end up basically pulling it out by the roots, that wasn't when he got the finishing arm bar. They actually separated and reset after that! In the mean time, Kimo did get in at least one really nasty shot to the floating ribs, brought his full weight down on Gracie a couple of times, got in a good headbutt and eventually some punches to Gracie's head that it was hard to tell how effective they were. Finally, after the pony tail ripped out, they reset, got into a grapple again and that's when Gracie got the arm lock causing Kimo to tap out.
No one is saying Gracie cheated, or that he didn't deserve to win or anything like that. But it is obvious Kimo was a tough guy. He did hurt Gracie (Gracie really looked haggard and almost limping after the fight), and also forced Gracie to exert _a lot_ more energy than he usually had to (even the commentators went on and on about that). So you can still say that Gracie's not being able to continue due to dehydratiion was at least in part because of the extremely tough fight Kimo gave him. (I'm not making any point here, just discussing the fight.)
Why Kimo never fought again (or did he?) I don't know. I would have liked to see it.
Regards,
Matt